Hi Suzieq, While mine are done local and sent by courier, and even though the blood is processed the very next day, it still takes a week to get the results. My experience prior was with another local lab that was taking 2 weeks on the result report...turns out they were holding the blood 3 or more days! Not to say that your lab is doing that, you would need to inquire with them regarding that. You should always get a copy of the actual report from your doctor. The report may contain the information that you are looking for. Typically they will have multiple dates on them, such as the date of draw, date of receipt to the lab, date of report and in some cases the date it was actually processed. There should also be an ID or control number identifying the specific test/patient. If you are looking for the date it was actually processed and do not find it on the report, you can use this control number to call the lab and inquire. I have done this myself.
If I were you, here is what I would want to know: If a sample is shipped on the date it is drawn, when does the lab receive it? (overnight, 2nd day, etc.) What day(s) does this lab run PCR testing? What time would a sample have to be received by the lab to be run the same day it is received? These are the two places that the delay leading to RNA degradation are most likely to occur, delay in shipping, delay in processing. For optimum results you would want to time the draw so that the lab would run the PCR the day after it is drawn. Let's say the lab runs PCR's on Thursdays. If it could be drawn and sent overnight on Wednesday that would be the absolute best, but it would depend on whether the lab would receive it on Thursday and still be able to process it the same day. If not, you would want your blood drawn as absolutely late in the day as you possibly can, and still make shipping, on Tuesday, let's say 2pm. It should be sent overnight and would be received at the lab on Wednesday, and they would process on Thursday...it would be sometime around 45 hours. Which is a stretch, but still okay by some protocols. Hope this gives you some good questions to ask...if not of your doctor, then the lab itself. I know it seems like a lot of hoops to jump through, but don't let anyone intimidate you, from attaining that because it is costly or inconvenient to them. This is your life and your health, you are entitle to the MOST accurate test results possible, not just the ones that are the most convenient to anyone else. Keep the faith! peg On Jun 1, 1:45 pm, Suzieq <[email protected]> wrote: > Peg: > > Thank you for the information. My question is this.......where I go, > the PCR BCR-ABL test is not done there, it is shipped off to a lab in > the North east somewhere & I get my results about two weeks later, > therefore, the test isn't ran until the next day or day after, I'm > sure, since it takes a while for it to reach the Labs up there? It's > the same place they've shipped it to since I started going to the > Cancer Ctr. in April of the year I was dx'ed ('04). So, what your are > explaining here makes me wonder just how accurate the tests are. > > Glad to hear the update on Zavie, too. > > Suzieq -- [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope
